National Zipper Day – April 29

April 29 is celebrated as National Zipper Day. If you love to learn about trivia, this post has lots of fun facts and history on the zipper that is used in so many items today.

April is a month full of national days devoted to all sorts of interesting items. We have celebrated birds, ferrets, and scrabble as well as many national food holidays. Now, it’s the zipper’s turn!

National days of the year are a fun way to celebrate odd and unusual foods, animals and items that you come into contact with. Be sure to check out my National Day’s Guide for more fun days to celebrate.

What is the History of the Zipper?

In 1851, Elias Howe who invented the sewing machine developed an item he called an automatic continuous clothing closure. The product was a series of clasps joined with a connecting cord that ran on ribs. The product was never marketed.

Years later, in August of 1893, Whitcomb L. Judson from Chicago, received a patent for his “clasp locker and unlocker of shoes” which is seen by many as the first modern zipper.

His zipper was not a commercial success until a Swedish engineer named Gideon Sundback redesigned it with the teeth closer together in 1913. The patent for the “Separable Fastener” was issued in 1917.

B.F. Goodrich called the product a “zipper” when they used it in manufacture of work galoshes. They had a copyright on the name for a while.

Fun Facts about Zippers

Brush up on your knowledge of zippers with these fun facts. Some may surprise you!

The two most often used ways to use zippers in the early days were for closing tobacco pouches and boots.

The first zipper product was shown at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, but it didn’t have much success with the public.

The YKK zipper company makes 46% of the zippers used today.

Each year, enough zippers are made to wrap the world 50 times!

Counterfeit zippers are big business.

In 2002, approximately 492 people in the UK needed hospital treatment for zipper-related injuries. (ouch!)

In 1937, several French designers started using zippers in fashion and the idea really took off.

The US Navy purchased 10,000 zipper units for use in World War 1.

Today, zippers are used on everything from jeans to jewelry and purses.

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How to Celebrate National Zipper Day

Would you like to celebrate National Zipper Day in a special way? Try one of these ideas.

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